Index of Articles

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An asterisk * before the name of an article on this page indicates original research.

Angelus ad virginem
Angelus ad virginem: why early music and traditional music share the same gene pool

Arbeau, Thoinot
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

armed man, The / L’homme armé
L’homme armé / The armed man: the remarkable life of a 15^th century song and its contemporary resonance

bandora
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion

Barbara Allen
Was Barbara Allen really so cruel? … coming soon

baroque guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

baroque lute
The lute: a thumbnail history

baroque music
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music

Belle qui tiens ma vie
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

Beverley Minster
The magnificent medieval musicians of Beverley Minster: an illustrated guide to its minstrels and allegorical carvings.
* Part 1: The Minster’s history and its 14^th century allegorical carvings. … coming soon
* Part 2: 14^th century carvings of musicians. … coming soon
* Part 3: More 14^th century carvings of musicians. … coming soon
* Part 4: The role of the medieval Beverley musicians’ guild. … coming soon
* Part 5: Carvings of musicians from the 16^th and 20^th century. … coming soon

Bird on a briar
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

Bob the Builder (spoof article for 1^st April)
NEW DISCOVERY! Rob. mason, builder, his galiard

Boissart mandore
– see Mandore.

Bosch, Jheronimus
The modern myth of Bosch’s butt music … coming soon

bray harp
The bray harp: getting a buzz from early music
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
Westron wynde: a beautiful fragment of longing

Breve regnum erigitur
Early music in fascist fires – or – The extraordinary survival of a Polish early music gem: Breve regnum erigitur … coming soon

Bring us in good ale
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

broadside ballads
Was Barbara Allen really so cruel? … coming soon
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music
Calen o Custure me: a Tudor love song with garbled Gaelic?
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 3 of 3: Music
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17^th century seasonal song

Bryd one brere
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

Calen o Custure me (Cailín ó Chois tSiúre mé, Caleno custure me, Callin o custure me, Callino Casturame, Calmie custure me)
Calen o Custure me: a Tudor love song with garbled Gaelic?

Cantigas de Santa Maria
* “Why do you not praise her?”: the Virgin Mary and the troubadours (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 1/6)
* “I wish from this day forth to be her troubadour”: the composition of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 2/6)
* The Virgin’s vengeance and Regina’s rewards: the surprising character of Mary in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 3/6)
* The animated chop of meat (and other miraculous marvels): pilgrimage songs in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 4/6)
* “Infidels”, “traitors” and “that ugly bearded crew”: fear and loathing in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 5/6)
* Surprising songs of sentient statues: the Virgin, Venus, and Jason and the Argonauts (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 6/6) 
* Performing medieval music. Part 1: Instrumentation
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style

Carolan, Turlough
See Princess Royal: the history of an Irish?/English?/Scottish? air/song/dance … coming soon

Carter, Sydney  
Songs that grow like trees: an appreciation of Sydney Carter (1915–2004)

citole
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance tune – see video

cittern
Cittern: a brief introduction … coming soon

clavicembalum
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

clavicytherium
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

coboz, koboz, kobza
* The Elblag gittern: a case of mistaken identity … coming soon
Early music in fascist fires – or – The extraordinary survival of a Polish early music gem: Breve regnum erigitur … coming soon

contrafactum (singular) / contrafacta (plural)
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
* Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola: silencing the cuckoo

cornamuse (wind cap instrument)
The crumhorn: a short history

Coventry Carol
Coventry Carol: the power of a song

crumhorn
The crumhorn: a short history

dance
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: the medieval style
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance tune

Drive the cold Winter away
Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17^th century seasonal song

dulcimer, hammer(ed)
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

early music and folk/traditional music
– See Traditional/folk music and early music

Edi beo þu heuene quene
Edi beo þu heuene quene: a love song by any name
* “Why do you not praise her?”: the Virgin Mary and the troubadours (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 1/6)
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

estampie
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance tune
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music

farting
A brief history of farting in early music and literature

fiddle, medieval
* On the (medieval) fiddle: a short introduction to the vielle
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony

films, historical
In defence of the unhistorical drama

folk/traditional music and early music
See traditional/folk music and early music

Foweles in þe frith
* Foweles in þe frith (birds in the wood): mystery and beauty in a 13^th century song

gemshorn
The gemshorn: a (necessarily) short history

gittern
* The gittern: a short history
* The Elblag gittern: a case of mistaken identity … coming soon
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony

goliards
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

Greensleeves   
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 3 of 3: Music

guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

hammer dulcimer
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

harp
The bray harp: getting a buzz from early music
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English

harpsichord
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

historical drama
In defence of the unhistorical drama

hurdy gurdy (vielle à roue)
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

In dulci jubilo
Nails, needles, chains and angels: the pain and joy of In dulci jubilo

In the Fields in Frost and Snow
Old MacDonald Had A Farm: an early music classic … coming soon

Kalenda maya
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music

koboz, kobza, coboz
* The Elblag gittern: a case of mistaken identity … coming soon
Early music in fascist fires – or – The extraordinary survival of a Polish early music gem: Breve regnum erigitur … coming soon

L’homme armé / The armed man
L’homme armé / The armed man: the remarkable life of a 15^th century song and its contemporary resonance

Lully, lulla, thow littell tiné child
Coventry Carol: the power of a song

lute
The lute: a thumbnail history

Lyke-Wake Dirge
The Lyke-Wake Dirge: the revival of an Elizabethan song of the afterlife

Magno gaudens
Boy bishops, role reversals, and a rare 13^th century song: Magno gaudens … coming soon

mandore    
For a history of the mandore, see the first of the three articles below.
The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 1 of 3: The pre-history of the mandore
* The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 2 of 3: Obervations on the Boissart mandore
The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 3 of 3: Creating a new mandore inspired by the ‘Boissart’ design

medieval music
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
* Performing medieval music. Part 1: Instrumentation
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style

medieval music notation, theory, modes
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Bird on a briar: constructing the missing voice
* Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance tune
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music
* Performing medieval music. Part 1: Instrumentation
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style
* Foweles in þe frith (birds in the wood): mystery and beauty in a 13^th century song

Mirie it is while sumer ilast
* Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English

movies, historical
In defence of the unhistorical drama

O’Carolan, Turlough
See Princess Royal: the history of an Irish?/English?/Scottish? air/song/dance … coming soon

Old MacDonald Had A Farm
Old MacDonald Had A Farm: an early music classic … coming soon

Orchésographie
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

organ
See portative organ or positive organ.

organistrum
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

orpharion
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion

oud
The oud: a short guide to a long history

penorcon
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion

Perspice Christicola
* Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola: silencing the cuckoo

pipe and tabor
Pipe and tabor: a brief introduction … coming soon

portative organ
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

positive organ
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

Princess Royal
Princess Royal: the history of an Irish?/English?/Scottish? air/song/dance … coming soon

psaltery
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

rebec
The rebec: a short history from court to street

renaissance dance
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour

renaissance music
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour

renaissance guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

renaissance lute
The lute: a thumbnail history

Salutation carol
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

Shakespeare, William
Playing Shakespeare: the music of the Bard
The song Shakespeare stole from: a discovery from the 16^th century (spoof article for 1^st April)
Calen o Custure me: a Tudor love song with garbled Gaelic?
In defence of the unhistorical drama

shawm
The shawm: a loud introduction … coming soon

simfony
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

Spencer the Rover
* Spencer the Rover – a history of mental health in song … coming soon

spinet
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

Sumer is icumen in
* Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola: silencing the cuckoo
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

Tabourot, Jehan
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

traditional/folk music and early music
Angelus ad virginem: why early music and traditional music share the same gene pool
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style
Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17^th century seasonal song

Trees they do grow high, The
* The trees they do grow high: a ballad of medieval arranged marriage?

troubadours and trouvères
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music
* “Why do you not praise her?”: the Virgin Mary and the troubadours (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 1/6)
* “I wish from this day forth to be her troubadour”: the composition of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 2/6)
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement

vielle (medieval fiddle)
* On the (medieval) fiddle: a short introduction to the vielle
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle

vielle à roue (Hurdy gurdy)
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

virginal
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

volta, la
The scandalous la volta: “such a lewd and unchaste dance”

Westron wynde
Westron wynde: a beautiful fragment of longing